Because we have many years of experience in insurance matters, we may be able to help you by giving advice on your claims handling problems or in the defense of litigation involving:

• Exploration of questionable property and liability claims

Such claims would include suspicious fires, questionable burglary and theft claims, fraudulent auto theft claims and staged auto accidents.

Many property claims begin with the taking of examinations under oath (EUOs) of the insureds or sworn statements of claimants, informants or persons who claim to be insureds where there is a question of whether the policy was void because of misrepresentations before or since the date of loss. We take hundreds of EUOs and sworn statements each year.

Our aim is to provide legal guidance to our clients during the investigation phase so that if a claim is denied, the Company will be in a good position to defend that denial. We’ve adopted procedures and standards to help clients fairly, quickly and economically make their claims decisions. We have litigated and – perhaps more significantly – have helped our clients avoid litigation over so-called bad faith accusations.

• Questioned auto liability and other personal injury defense
• Overseeing the tricky Texas procedure for appraisals

We have extensive experience in the mechanics of appraisals and, as can be seen by the case cited in our Work History, we have successfully defended our clients’ appraisals in court.

• Evaluation of legitimate valuation or coverage disputes

We can help you evaluate legitimate property valuation disputes or coverage disputes under homeowner, fire, auto, and commercial policies during the claim-handling process, and we can defend your company in the event of a first-party suit.

Among the types of property claims we have handled are fires, thefts, explosions, foundations, water leaks, water and sewer backups, roofs, and contamination C many of which have involved disputes as to valuing damage to the structure and contents and disputes over additional living expenses, business interruption expenses, and similar coverages. We also handle personal injury suits in which the existence or extent of the claimed injuries is disputed.

•  Evaluation of the duty to defend or to indemnify

When an insured under a liability policy is sued, or when claims are made against that insured, we can help you determine whether your company has a duty to tender the insured’s defense in the lawsuit or to indemnify the insured for any adverse judgment.

• Preventing or responding to claims of bad faith, Insurance Code violations, and deceptive trade practices

If you need assistance on how to handle a particular claim-handling issue without running afoul of Texas law, we can help. We can also apply our years of experience to help you respond to insureds or attorneys who allege such violations.

Our firm has defended virtually hundreds of suits involving these allegations since the Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) became a factor in the late 1970s and bad faith came into play in the 1980s, was eclipsed in danger in the latter 1990s, and has now risen again as a major risk since the July 1997 Supreme Court decisions of Nicolau and Giles.

We have learned that the primary factor in successfully handling these claims is to accomplish a thorough investigation and to have a complete mastery of the facts by the time we stand up in front of the jury. Emotional issues can’t be allowed to lead the jury down mistaken paths. In some cases, our clients have been awarded recoupment of payments made to lienholders and of our attorney’s fees.

We have won jury verdicts in favor of carriers in numerous Texas counties, including arson verdicts in Beaumont, Orange, Tyler, Bonham, Canton, Paris, Sulphur Springs, Dallas, Belton and Eastland – virtually all around the State.

• Subrogation suits

We also prosecute subrogation suits on behalf of insurance companies against the negligent party which caused the losses paid by those companies.

Of note, our firm does not charge insurance companies for attorney hourly travel time.